Never Let Me Go in The Alternative Worlds

Dec 25, 2009 Nicky rated it really liked it

Shelves: speculative-fiction, dystopia

(You may consider this review spoilery, if you read all of it. I state something explicitly that is below the surface of the book, at any rate.)

This book is a bit like having a one-sided conversation with the narrator. In consequence, it kinda feels like it rambles a bit -- they digress to talk about something else and then a couple of pages later, wrench it back to the original point. In some ways that makes it feel very natural, like someone talking, but to read it, it gets irritating.

There's ...more

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Dec 30, 2009 Sandi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, library-books-read

From the first chapter, you know that something is going on. What the heck is a carer? What are the donors and what are they donating? Why are the teachers at Hailsham called "guardians", not teachers? Why don't these kids go home on vacation? Why don't they have last names?

Never Let Me Go has a great science fiction premise. It promises a lot, but it just doesn't deliver. It's an easy read and it did draw me in and keep me reading. However, it kept me reading because I was expecting some big r ...more

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Feb 05, 2010 Regina rated it liked it

Shelves: literature, dystopia, bingo-3rd-round

2 stars for the first 50% and 4 stars for the last 50%. I did not enjoy the first half of this book. I liked the characters, the world and what I believed the big mystery to be. But the way the author told the story drove me crazy, the flashback and memory within a flashback just was too frantic and silly for me. This book appeared to be my ideal book – a marriage between two of my favorite genres: dystopia and literary fiction with a dash of romance. It just didn’t work for me. The last half of 2 stars for the first 50% and 4 stars for the last 50%. I did not enjoy the first half of this book. I liked the characters, the world and what I believed the big mystery to be. But the way the author told the story drove me crazy, the flashback and memory within a flashback just was too frantic and silly for me. This book appeared to be my ideal book – a marriage between two of my favorite genres: dystopia and literary fiction with a dash of romance. It just didn’t work for me. The last half of the book was compelling enough for me to stay up all night to finish. The story is truly heartbreaking. Heartbreaking because of what is facing the key characters and heartbreaking just in theory. This story is told in a manner that leaves the reader without hope, without inspiration – it appears nothing will improve for individuals similarly situated as the main characters and in fact the situation is likely to decline for them. I was close to tears during several scenes at the end of the book. And then I was up for an hour or so thinking about what was the author’s point? To make readers sad? To break hearts? Is his message that every life is worth living? That we all have a soul? That human beings need to be cherished and loved from a very young age? What the story made me think about was abandoned and neglected children everywhere. Orphaned children in decimated countries or warzones who have no support. The story did not inspire happy thoughts, but the best books do not always take us to happy places. This story reminded me of a seemingly opposite book, which I also had a conflicted reaction to – Atonement by Ian McEwan. A beautiful and haunting book, but also left me with no hope and seriously depressed. So I will continue to search for the greater meaning of this book, any ideas? Suggestions? Or was it a trick played on readers to pull our heartstrings?

(view spoiler)
...more

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Feb 09, 2009 Kara Babcock rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, from-library, 2009-read, alternate-history

When I first started reading this book after borrowing it from the library, I did a double-take. I had this book down as being recommended by one of my favourite science fiction blogs, yet the book's description mentioned nothing that made it sound like science fiction! So I had to go back and read the article that mentions this book before I realized what was going on (the Library of Congress cataloguing information also gives it away). Immediately I was impressed by Kazuo Ishiguro. He doesn't ...more

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Jul 02, 2008 Hirondelle (not getting notifications) rated it it was ok

Shelves: other-fiction, don-t-own, sf, not-my-cup-of-tea

I was trying so hard to remember the title of this book yesterday, during a discussion of sf. This *is* sf, some undated future with a very different society. It would be a very interesting discussion why this was not published or acknowledged even as sf.

It actually is not interesting as sf ( if very beautifully written) in that it is nothing new, no bright brilliant idea, and that it does not really stand up to scientific thinking. Good sf does not have to be about science, or respect know laws ...more

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Jan 29, 2008 Lee rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, 2008

I've been thinking about this book since I finished it last night. Ishiguro is such a beautiful writer and I admire the ease with which he created mood and mystery from the moment I started reading. This book pulled me in but left me feeling so sad. ...more

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Nov 08, 2011 Suz rated it liked it

Shelves: because-it-s-a-movie

I found this book more than a little frustrating. This book is short, but a longer read because it takes time to get through. It’s a book of ideas and not actions, the world and story are explored through the people in the book. No dramatic explosions or gripping action scenes, but there’s still a lot going on inside. The characters are ok, the idea is good, and it makes sense that nothing happens, but it’s still unsatisfying. I wasn’t a fan of the delivery; it was very dry (even the sex was bor I found this book more than a little frustrating. This book is short, but a longer read because it takes time to get through. It’s a book of ideas and not actions, the world and story are explored through the people in the book. No dramatic explosions or gripping action scenes, but there’s still a lot going on inside. The characters are ok, the idea is good, and it makes sense that nothing happens, but it’s still unsatisfying. I wasn’t a fan of the delivery; it was very dry (even the sex was boring), but if you can get past that, the writing is decent. There’s emotional programming, and there are cultural implications that are huge in this book, but it’s all treated so mild and unalarming that I can’t quite grok what’s going on.

And just to talk about it I have to get spoilery:

(view spoiler)

It’s effing Frustrating.

But I get it. And I don’t. And I agree and I don’t... which is why this book gets stars. I don’t necessarily “like” it, but I can’t give it less, because it makes me think and feel, which is what I love best about spec fiction. ...more

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Feb 08, 2012 Daniel Roy rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf, dystopia

As much as have an intellectual appreciation for Ishiguro's prose and the themes he tries to cover in his story, this novel just left me cold and unfulfilled to the point that I just stopped reading.

It's not a bad book; perhaps it's a perfect storm of tone, style, and setting, but it just utterly failed to grab me. The British college setting totally didn't appeal to me, and I found the narration to be meandering and rambling. It felt like reading a transcript of an elder woman, in the grips of ...more

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May 14, 2008 Michelle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, worldview, 1001-books, dystopia, there-s-a-movie-too, lit_fic, medical-fiction

'never let me go' is slow and soft and quiet and utterly heartbreaking. in anyone else's hands, this would have been a tale of extraordinary people railing against their fates, fighting to change the world to a more just place. in other words, it'd be more like a michael bay movie, with plenty of explosions. it's not. instead, we have very ordinary people living what to them is an ordinary life, not even so much as noticing it as a situation in desperate need of change, and that is the tragedy o ...more

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Mar 24, 2011 H. R. rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, literature, ebook

It was a good novel, but what's the fuss all about? It's ranked by Time as one of the top 100 books ever written, with similar accolades from numerous other sources. It uses themes and characterization fairly common in other novels. It would be interesting to understand the reading background of those who judged the novel to this category. Too bad they aren't on Goodreads (perhaps some are?) to compare shelves. ...more

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Jun 21, 2008 bsc rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, fiction, read-2008, dystopian, from-library, literary-sf

This is a hard book for me to rate and review. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. I was both bored and frustrated in parts, mostly in the first half and due to the narrator jumping from topic to topic and from one year to another and then back again. However, there were enough nuggets dropped here and there that kept me interested. The ending was enthralling, but still left me scratching my head. Overall, a very provocative and affecting read. ...more

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